Northargyle Abbie is billed as a contemporary retelling of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey (yes, the clue is in the title). It’s been years–perhaps decades–since I read Northanger Abbey, and I can’t remember anything about it beyond the fact that it wasn’t my favourite Austen story. I therefore can’t comment on how accurate the retelling is.
I can say I enjoyed Abbie’s story.
Abbie is a pastor’s daughter, part-time church secretary, and part-time researcher at the local museum in her home town of Westonia, Pennsylvania. On her twenty-fourth birthday, she discovers her grandmother has left her a mystery to solve, and a cottage in Australia. She also discovers a connection to the island kingdom of Northargyle, which is situated between Australia and New Zealand.
As a Kiwi reader who has visited Australia many times, I was intrigued by this choice of imaginary location.
The whole story is told in first person from Abbie’s point of view, although she does interrupt herself to quote from the occasional letter, or her own Notebook of Silly Placards.
I enjoyed the voice, and especially loved the quips and banter.
I found the novel started a little slowly, and the pace picked up after the Abbie arrived in Australia. Here she meets Jess, her self-proclaimed new best friend, Jess’s brother Devon, and the handsome if mysterious Colter and his sister, Eliana. She also discovers more about her grandmother’s secret life that leaves her wondering who her grandmother really was …
The Australian scenes captured the country well, from avos to mozzies, from lamingtons to pavlova (and the age-old debate as to whether the dessert is Australian or Kiwi in origin). I wondered if the author was Australian, but the author’s note clarified the unerring accuracy: Australian young adult author Hannah Currie helped with those details. For example:
Welcome to the island of Northargyle. A hidden gem in the Tasman Sea, just north of New Zealand. The island enjoys much of the same wildlife (not as many sheep) and weather as New Zealand (experience the four seasons all in one day).
Yes, that’s accurate.
According to research, everything in Australia wants to kill you, except maybe koalas who sleep twenty-two hours a day.
Also accurate.
I was a little disappointed that Abbie didn’t get to visit New Zealand, but maybe we’ll see that in a future story in the Royally Austen series …
Fans of royalty romance and Jane Austen will enjoy Northargyle Abbie, as will anyone looking for a witty romance with a hint of mystery.
Thanks to WhiteFire Publishing for providing a free ebook for review.
About Janelle Leonard
Janelle Leonard is a Jane Austen fangirl with an overactive imagination who creates web-twisty plotlines from her home in Pennsylvania. When she’s not writing, reading, editing, drinking coffee, or working at an elementary school library, she’s finding creative ways to procrastinate. She is passionate about living authentically while serving and encouraging others to see their worth, using writing as a key to unlock worlds of possibility.
Find Janelle Leonard online at:
About Northargle Abbie
When Abigail Morgan, a naive pastor’s daughter with an overactive imagination, inherits a cottage in Australia, she never imagines the story it will unlock. Armed with a museum studies degree and a penchant for daydreams, Abigail heads to Hyacinth Cottage to unravel the truth of her grandmother’s past-an unknown world of adventure, deception, and love.
While sifting through letters, photographs, and hidden relics, Abigail meets Colter Wellesley, a charming local who helps her navigate the labyrinth of clues with a blend of wit and charm she struggles to resist. But Colter comes with secrets of his own. As their investigation and romance deepen, Abigail wonders if Colter is more tangled up in her grandmother’s mystery-and that of the princess who vanished more than sixty years ago-than she ever imagined.
In this modern reimagining of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, the line between imagination and reality blurs, and every clue discovered could be the key to unlocking a royal legacy.
